4 ways to properly set a deadline and get the job done on time

1. Make the project more urgent for yourself

Any task that you do not consider urgent is easy to postpone. Indeed, if you still have a whole month before finishing work, you can take your time and do something more enjoyable. But this approach, as a rule, turns out to be disastrous: time flies by quickly, and this threatens a sleepless night on the eve of the delivery of the project.

The advice is simple: push the deadline in your personal work schedule to an earlier date.

Instead of giving yourself a month to complete a project, set aside a week for it. Even if you do not meet the seven days, you will have time for revision, improvement of important little things that usually come up at the last moment.

2. Set your personal deadline

We are all different. Surely during brainstorming and project discussions, you have heard colleagues suggest a variety of ways to solve problems. Based on your own skills, experience and preferences, you will be able to create the best project plan for yourself without looking back at others.

Renowned business coach Carson Tate divides people by productivity into four categories:

organizers - implement projects using hired employees;
priority planters - focused on the main idea;
visualizers - never lose sight of what is happening;
planners - they know how to put even the smallest things in order.

Instead of saying, “I have to get it done before such and such a date,” just focus completely on the task at hand. You can immerse yourself in the project right away, or perform parts of it in parallel with other tasks. The main thing is to determine what is best for you.

3. Set an achievable goal

We all want to get the job done better and faster. But sometimes it is difficult to take the first step, to cope with the feeling that you have to move a mountain. Doubts arise: is it worth starting at all if the task is difficult and, possibly, impossible?

Try to break your project down into small but easy steps. Imagine that you have to work in 10 minute segments. You will have to determine what you can do during this time. Perhaps it will be possible to come up with a design, make two or three slides, correct the previously written text?

This method is good when you hesitate to start work, which means that you push the project deadline further and further. Start with a small 10-minute task. If you enjoy dividing a task into time slices, stick with this strategy until the very end.

4. Define the term meaningfully

What happens if you miss the deadline? Will you tell yourself it's not that important, or will you worry?

If you don't feel responsible for not meeting the deadline, there is no incentive for you to stick to it. You need motivation.

Tell your boss that you will present your report on Monday, and don't just put it down on your day planner. Let a colleague know that you will complete your part of the project before the end of the day. External control will allow you to get ready and fulfill your plans on time. You don't want to be a cheater, do you?

A deadline is a good way to improve performance. But he should not spill over into self-loathing for the constantly frustrated deadlines.

Try these four tips. Perhaps you will learn to keep up with everything, enjoy the work and, over time, do more of it in the same time.